


Hellfire

by syusuke



Category: One Piece
Genre: Ace GETS a hug, Ace is precious and shouldn't have died, Ace needs a hug, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, I like my fire dudes connecting okay, Marco cares, Misplaced Guilt, Self-Reflection, Survivor Guilt, What-If, devil fruits exploration, emotions are powerful, inspired by annoying co-workers, overwhelmed by emotions
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-02
Updated: 2019-05-09
Packaged: 2020-02-16 06:29:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,941
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18686008
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/syusuke/pseuds/syusuke
Summary: Marco can't leave it alone. He has seen their new commander struggling to trust the crew and it's getting dangerous. It needs to change, now.





	1. Fire within

„Why do you really hate him?”  
Marco brushed his shoulder against Ace, even in that short moment he felt the heat radiating off the younger man. It was quiet now. The crew had partied long into the night, but by now most of them were asleep. Only the night watch was sober anyway. 

“Huh? Who?”  
Ace downed his beer and turned to his comrade. He thought about it for a moment. He didn’t hate anybody? Life was good. The sea, the whitebeards, pops – He was enjoying himself. Even Luffy had made it to the grandline, or so the paper said. 

“You don’t have to tell me. But you should talk. It can be someone else.”  
Judging by the way Ace shifted away from him, pulled the ridiculous orange hat lower to cover his face, he’d caught on. Marco knew he would have to prod softly, if he wanted to get anything out of him. It had been a little irritating how quickly Ace had adapted to life on the Moby Dick. Of course, he had refused at first. He’d lashed out at them and made several attempts at Pop’s life. What was new though? Somehow Whitebeard tended to pick up the most feral and dangerous people and make them family.  
The phoenix couldn’t help a small chuckle. They really were like wild animals. All of them hurt, broken in one way or another. Deeply suspicious of kindness, all looking for the catch. They were used to a life of fighting and hiding. Some more so than others. There was usually a big feast whenever a new crewmate finally gave in, sharing some of the weight on their shoulders and honestly trusting the crew. Ace wasn’t there yet. Sure, Marco had seen how much he liked the crew and the fun they were having. In battles it was a different story though. Ace was a menace in a fight. The marines were right to fear him. It also meant they singled him out though and there had been a few close calls. Once Marco had pulled him out of an especially tricky situation. He still couldn’t forget the utter disbelief on the younger man’s face.

“Hey Marco.. why did you join Pops?”  
“Because he saved me. I had been on my own all my life. I didn’t trust anybody, didn’t have any real friends. Joined a group of ruthless idiots like me, it gave us power and we were feared. But at the end of the day I wasn’t as ruthless as I thought. I had a breaking point and when I refused to kill someone our leader wanted dead, I had to run. I ran for years. Pops found me and offered me a place to stay. He knew who was looking for me and still didn’t care. Still took me in. So, now I try to help him in any way I can. Because this crew is my family.”  
“Sounds like a difficult life.”  
“It was the only thing I knew then.”  
“Did.. did you ever think... I mean.. Nah, sorry. Forget it.”  
“Ace?”

It was barely a whisper and Marco almost choked on his beer when he heard it.  
“Did you ever wish you weren’t born?”

It seemed almost comical how Ace slumped over the railing, staring in the dark waters, avoiding Marco’s eyes. The blond on the other hand pressed his back even firmer against that same railing and stared up at the stars. Their shoulders were almost touching.  
“No. I’ve wished for death before. The few people who helped me back then, all died. I once thought that if I had died earlier, I could have spared Pops from a lot of grief. But, no. I never wished that I never existed.”

He felt the trembling beside him, but he kept pretending not to notice. If Ace didn’t want to be seen crying, Marco wouldn’t look.  
“I’m glad we’re both here now.”  
Blue flames spread from Marco’s arm, creeping over Ace’s back and covering him like a blanket. In the dark waters, it vaguely looked like a lighthouse appearing after a storm.


	2. Now or never

Ace’s narcolepsy meant that sometimes he couldn’t sleep at night. It was annoying, but usually not too bad. If no one was up playing card games or drinking, there was always the nightwatch. The crew had quickly adapted to Ace’s sudden arrivals in the crow’s nest, no one seemed to mind. 

He made his way up the rope ladder and landed with a soft thud. The Moby Dick was a big ship. There was enough space up here for a small cabin and benches outside of it. 

“Hello? Mind me joining?”

He looked around, but was surprised to find the cabin empty too. The first division was on night watch, but he didn’t know who was on tonight. With nothing better to do, he decided to just keep watch himself. Maybe someone had forgotten their shift. Instead of staying in the cabin, he hopped up on its roof though.  
The night was calm. Out on the ocean with no villages nearby the stars were the brightest. He did know some of the constellations. It was only common sense, since he had to navigate whenever he went of with his striker. Unfortunately he was pretty bad at normal navigation during the day. Another disadvantage of narcolepsy, he was hardly ever sure what time it was. It didn’t matter though, the striker was fast. And since the wind wasn’t important with his devil fruit powering the ship, navigating by logport was a piece of cake. He liked watching the stars. His life and regrets seemd so small and insignificant in comparison.  
Suddenly he noticed that one light was getting brighter. He blinked. He must be dreaming, stars didn’t get bigger either. His gaze still fixed on the bright light, he pinched himself. Nope, not dreaming then. As realization hit him, his heart dropped. He had the worst luck. Ever. It was too late to leave, he was quite sure he had already been spotted. Maybe..

Ace relaxed back onto the roof. Cowboy hat pushed over his eyes, arms and legs spread wide in his usual sleeping position. Maybe, just maybe, he could get away with it. The last few days had been awkward, ever since that night. But he just couldn’t bring himself to talk about it. Instead he had just avoided him.  
In contrast to Ace’s flames, Marco’s weren’t hot. The blue flames didn’t change the temperature, they were a source of light though. Ace was aware that Marco had landed next to him. He was also aware that he made an effort to be quiet, and that he stayed in his phoenix form for a couple minutes. That night the flames had been comforting, kind and caring. Ace had asked Vista about it, but the swordsman had only shrugged him off, apparently Marco DIDN’T do things like that. Ever. 

 

“Couldn’t sleep, yoi? You’re lucky. The sky is all clear. It’s been a while since all the stars were visible.”

Ace didn’t respond. He was still hoping.

“You’ve been avoiding me. Pops even asked about it. He said, it was strange how you followed me around for weeks and then suddenly stopped. I thought we were good, you know? Some might even say we’re good friends by now. If you don’t want to hang out, that’s okay. You don’t have to. But you almost gave me a heart attack when you just rushed off with the striker. We’re supposed to be a team, you know? I can fly and attack enemy ships directly. But with you on my back, we could cover more ground and you actually have long range attacks. It’s also safer for you. I’m still not convinced that the striker is a good idea. You could fall off. You’re one sleep attack away from drowning, yoi.”

It was the sort of heart-felt things, Ace hadn’t expected from Marco. Maybe he really bought that he was asleep. Sounded a little like Luffy’s random ramblings whenever he thought Ace couldn’t hear him. Too honest to be said by daylight and too difficult to say to someone’s face. Ace felt that he couldn’t fake sleep any longer. He turned towards Marco, pushing the hat off his face.

“I won’t fall off. Takes too much concentration to steer the damn thing. I could never have an attack surprise me during that.”

“You got me there. I actually thought you were asleep. But you heard anyway... So, stop avoiding me? I miss hanging out with you.”

Ace pushed himself up a bit. It was so weird to see Marco this way. The older man was sitting next to him, cross-legged, back against the mast. But he didn’t miss the way that he was hunched forward, staring at the hands in his lap. Small blue flames still danced in his palms. It was a cold light, like the stars above them. Marco looked unusually old in it. So Ace took the one thing he could adress.

 

“How did you do that? Back then, with your flames? It felt so different from my fire. It wasn’t warm, but it felt.. I dunno, comforting I guess.”

When Marco only shrugged, Ace started to pout. He honestly wanted to know. He had always thought that their devil fruits were kinda similar. He was a little startled by the hand grabbing his shoulder. The flames grew brighter and bigger. Ace was fascinated by how they engulfed Marco’s forearm entirely, before shrinking down on his hand and slowly licking over his shoulder. Soon the blue flames travelled further to his collar bone and towards the other arm. 

“I don’t feel anything. They’re not hot, it doesn’t feel like being in water either. If I couldn’t see them..”

“Just wait a little, yoi. They are a part of me. I’m not a logia. If I wanted to, I could make you feel what I feel. It’s difficult to control though.”

“Show me?”

 

Immediately the flames grew higher and Ace felt an overwhelming rush of sadness. He looked at Marco, but the phoenix had his eyes shut and his forehead crinkled in concentration. The sadness dulled down, only an undertone now. Instead he felt a wave of warmth. It was difficult to sort it, an intricate mess of feelings, but overall it just felt warm. It felt good. Ace could still feel a tinge of sadness under all of it, but that was okay. He had asked for this. It was almost like he was reading Marco’s mind. It felt wrong and right at the same time. Ace smiled, it quickly formed to a full fledged grin. This was nice. His own flames licked up around his torso, just shy of touching the blue flames they stopped. Marco slowly pulled his flames back in, before letting go of Ace’s shoulder.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to be so intense.”

“No, it’s... That’s fine. I.. SHIT! Did I burn you?”

Ace quickly reigned his flames back in. But he didn’t miss the blisters on the other’s hand. Marco only smiled at him though, holding the burnt hand up. The blisters disappeared into blue flames. 

“I heal fast. Don’t worry, yoi."

“Of course, I worry. I just burnt you! I’m sorry, I still need to train more. This attack team thing won’t work for me, if I burn you.”

“Nah, I said not to worry. I will always heal. Besides, you can’t burn me when I’m in full phoenix form.”

“Oh, that’s good then.”

 

Ace fell quiet. His mind was racing. Marco cared for him, wanted to fight beside him. He had answered every question so far. Maybe he could really tell him. He wanted to tell somebody. He had. Whitebeard knew, who he really was. But he didn’t want to, couldn’t, tell Pops what actually went through his mind. 

“Uhm, look. I’d like to talk to you about.. last time. Is that okay?”

“Promise not to avoid me again?”

 

“Okay. So, who did you mean? Back then. When you asked why I hated him?”

“Your father. You told me that you hated him when you were drunk and then you got up and left. I thought that it was strange. You talk so freely about your gramps and your brother. So, what happened?”

“Garp and Luffy aren’t actually related to me. Garp sort of raised me and Luffy is my sworn brother.”

“So, Dragon isn’t your father? I figured you just took your mother’s name.”

“Portgas is my mother’s name. You got that right. You can never tell anyone what bloodline I’m from. Pops knows, and Garp. But no one else. It has to be a secret.”

“My lips are sealed.”

“My birth name is Gol D. Ace...”

“WHAT?!”

 

Ace couldn’t stop now. He had to say it now or never.

“I hate him. Because of him my mother died. Because of him I grew up as an orphan. He made Garp take care of me and forced the old geezer to risk everything. If anyone ever found out about my upbringing, Garp will have to pay. They will hunt him down. And Luffy. And probably the whole goddamn village. If they ever find out, they will come for me and for the whole crew. They already killed so many women and unborn children, because Roger couldn’t keep his mouth shut. He bragged about his beautiful woman and their unborn child for months before he was executed. The government knew about it in no time. They killed anyone even remotely fitting the time line and the places he has been seen or even just suspected to have been. So many people died. Simply, because I exist. So many people had to die, so that I could live! I didn’t ask to be born! I hate him. I hate his blood in my veins. I hate all the innocent blood on my hands. I hate him, because my mother died at my birth. I hate him, because she loved him so much and did everything she could. She carried me for 20 months. It should have been impossible. If she had just aborted me.. at least SHE could have lived.”

Ace didn’t know when he had started sobbing or at which point Marco had pulled him into a hug. He just knew that he needed it out. He had to tell everything.

“I can’t take it anymore. I like it here. Everyone is nice and fun and I love it. It feels like the family I always wanted. But I’m a ticking time bomb. The longer I stay the bigger the risk. I should leave. I should go right now. Take the striker and be off. So when they find out, I’m far away from you and Pops and everyone. There would be no reason for them to come here. Pops’ reputation could even scare them off, enough that they wouldn’t even try. But for that I can’t be here. I don’t want to risk your lives.”

 

It hurt. It hurt so much. Ace could hardly breathe around the big lump in his throat. Now that he said it, he knew that he definitely had to leave. He couldn’t wait any longer. He swallowed hard, trying to get a grip, trying, trying... He clawed at Marco’s arms around him. He felt the warmth. He was effectively trapped by long arms and legs, pressed against a solid chest. It all felt warm. It felt like he was burning up from the inside. And maybe he was, when he finally blinked his vision back to clarity, his arms were burning in angry red flames and he could smell burnt flesh. It took him longer to hear the words mumbled against his left ear.

 

“..okay. Just breathe, breathe. It’s fine. It doesn’t change anything. Come on, that’s it. Breathe. I’m sorry for asking. It’s okay. Take your time. I’m gonna stay as long as you need me to. Don’t worry. I can take it. I know it’s difficult. You don’t have to leave. We want you here. I want you here. Shit, okay, okay. Gonna take you off the ship. Can’t have you burn it down. Hold onto me, that’s it.”

 

Ace had closed his eyes again. He tried to concentrate only on the voice. He was with Marco. He was on the Moby Dick. Pops knew. Pops had told him to stay anyway. It was okay. Ace realized that he had lost all control over his flames and needed to get a grip. When he opened his eyes, he stared directly at Marco’s tattoo. He also couldn’t feel the ground, only arms around him.

 

“Sorry, had to get you off the ship. Maybe I was wrong. You can’t talk to anyone else about things like that, it has to be me.”

 

“Can we get back... please?”

 

Ace was grateful that he had come here. It was good to get things off your chest. He was also grateful that it had been barely past midnight when he had snuck into the crow’s nest. That way, there was still no one awake when they landed on the ship again. He had seen the burns all across Marco’s torso when he first opened his eyes. Yet, the other commander had chosen to stay in his hybrid form during his whole freak out. Obviously, Marco had noticed him staring.

 

“It’s really fine, Ace. Look, I’m already healed again. You can always come to me when you need to talk. Just, if possible on land? I’d rather not have you burn down the Moby Dick.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I blame my co-worker for this who reminded me that her FAVOURITE characters always die and we went on a rampage, discussing all kinds of animes. This is the one where we agree. Ace is awesome. We don't agree on the best strawhat though, or our second favourite character over all. We both hate Blackbeard and Akainu though. I guess that counts for something.
> 
> If you enjoyed this, comments make my day =)


End file.
